Kay,

To quote from a chapter that I am writing for a book

Vials and jars are used for holding small specimens or in storing material
in a wet collection. Generally, glass is used because of its stability and
clarity. Borosilicate glass, such as Pyrex, Kimax, and Wheaton 800 are
brands to look for. Flint glass (soda-lime glass) is a less desirable form
of glass, as it is more likely to degrade over time. Using ultraviolet
light one can identify the type of glass. Under ultraviolet light, flint
glass fluoresces a bright yellow-green color (Simmons 1995).

Simmons, J. E. 1995. Storage in fluid preservatives. In: Storage of
Natural History Collections: Volume I. A Prevention Conservation Approach,
C. L. Rose, C. A. Hawks, and H. H. Genoway, eds. pp. 161-186. Society for
the Preservation of Natural History Collections, Iowa City, IA.

Hope that this helps.

Regards,
Charlie
******************************************************************************
Charlie Sturm, Jr
Research Associate - Section of Mollusks
                     Carnegie Museum of Natural History
                     Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Assistant Professor - Family Medicine

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On Tue, 7 Dec 2004, Kay Peterson wrote:

> Arrgh, Andrew!
>
> First, it wasn't safe to keep the shells in cardboard boxes; then the wooden
> cabinets were bad news.  Even my plastic boxes were suspect.  And now glass???
>  Just when I thought that glass was ultra-safe--albeit breakable----
>
> Tell me it isn't so--
>
> Kay
>

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